The Other Side to Your Wilderness

Gabriel walked to and fro his little room troubled. He had just received a call from his school’s administrator who informed him of being dropped out of the only course he had left to graduate from his Engineering program. Unsure of what to do next and surrounded by impossibilities, Gabriel found himself in a wilderness.

Oftentimes the wilderness is translated to mean a place no good comes out of, an evil dwelling or place. This is rightly so. According to the dictionary, the wilderness is “a position of disfavor.”

As we live daily, there's a very high (possibly 100%) chance, we would face our own wilderness. It could be a financial wilderness (as in the case of Gabriel), a relationship wilderness, career wilderness, or any other form of wilderness. Isn’t it awe-inspiring that Jesus also found himself in a wilderness? What we do in our wilderness state is what matters the most and this I believe determines what the future holds.

Personally, I have come to a conclusion that a wilderness is a place for reflection, preparation, and rest.

Reflection – As we venture into our daily activities, we naturally are task-oriented and take little to no time to reflect. Only a minute population of the world reflect on how they spent their last 24 hours. Others, on the contrary, wake up, get engaged in activities and head back to sleep. A place of reflection is so crucial to our future because it helps us analyze things we did right versus things we did wrong. It is in the place of reflection our experience is brought back to life and the lessons learned can be utilized in the future. Wilderness presents a good place for reflection.

Preparation – While in the wilderness, Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights. He did this to prepare for His enormous task ahead. Our purpose, if it is to be fulfilled, has to come from a place of preparedness. If you’ve ever gone for a job interview, you will know the importance of preparation. Unsure of what questions the interviewer will ask, you take several hours to be well equipped for any question thrown at you. Many people have lost a job opportunity because they lacked proper preparation. We ought to take advantage of our wilderness to prepare for the journey ahead. Study more, pray more, listen more, and strategize better.

Rest – Our bodies are not designed to work non-stop. I know several people who for one reason or the other work multiple jobs only to end up in the hospital for over-working their body. I am by no means saying it is wrong to have multiple jobs but it is essential to ensure the body is well rested. If manufacturing machines can have downtimes, how much more humans? Don’t you think rest is beneficial? Also, to rest doesn’t equate to being inactive towards getting out of that wilderness. Learn not to worry during your period of rest as worrying itself is stressful and will negate the purpose of rest. Therefore, take advantage of your wilderness to get adequate rest because once you come out of that wilderness, it will be time to chase your purpose! Rest

Remember, do not beat yourself up in your wilderness. Instead, take advantage of that situation to reflect, prepare and rest. These will come in handy if implemented as you will definitely leave the wilderness stronger/more equipped than you went in.